US fracking wells annually produce 280bn gallons of toxic waste water

As US public policy debates over the dangers and benefits of fracking for shale gas persist, a new report has emerged showing that the practice generated 280 billion gallons of toxic waste last year – containing cancer-causing and radioactive substances.

Fracking a single well can use between two and nine million gallons of water combined with sand and chemicals. Much of the fresh water used returns to the earth’s surface, but contains radium and bromides.

“When bromide in the wastewater mixes with chlorine (often used at drinking water treatment plants), it produces trihalomethanes, chemicals that cause cancer and increase the risk of reproductive or developmental health problems,” the report notes. It also found that 450,000 tons of air pollutants can potentially be produced in one year by the practice.

Environment America, who published the report on Thursday, called fracking “highly polluting” and noted increasing numbers of documented cases of illness as a result of the practice. In addition to cancer, toxic substances from fracking chemicals and waste water can cause endocrine disruption, neurological problems and immune system problems.

“The numbers don’t lie — fracking has taken a dirty and destructive toll on our environment. If this dirty drilling continues unchecked, these numbers will only get worse,” John Rumpler, a senior attorney for Environment America said in a news release after publication of the report.

Fracking is the extraction of oil and gas by injecting water to break rock formations deep underground. Use of the process has increased rapidly in the US in recent years, despite warnings from scientists who have studied it, illustrating the climate-damaging methane emissions and radioactive effects that come with the operation.